You, Me, and Her

Verse 03: Miss Independent

The theme was supposed to be subtly sexy and romantic, and if Halwyn had found out earlier how difficult it would be, he would've opposed the idea in the first place even when his sister threatened to fire him. Since they were introduced, Aidan's gaze has never left his face---it was the most uncomfortable photoshoot he had. Come to think of it, he never had this kind of photoshoot. The last time he had to pose for a photo was during graduation from college and that time he wasn't wearing a dress and her hair wasn't waist-length and curled!

"You're so stiff," Maxen couldn't hold his criticism as he was having a hard time angling the camera since Hal refused to relax. "Can you move a little bit closer?"

Hal glared at him and it was returned with a toothed grin. He could tell that despite the struggle, Max was enjoying this moment, reveling at the fact that Aidan was not aware that in his arms right now was his childhood best friend, Halwyn.

"I'm not sitting on his lap."

"Please, sit on his lap."

"I'm not sitting on his lap."

"Please, sit on his lap."

The two went back and forth and if not for the current dress and heels he was wearing, Hal would've kicked Max in the groin. Taking a deep sigh, Aidan suddenly pulled Hal by the waistline; he was so shocked that he stumbled, lost his balance, and found himself sitting on the lap that he initially declined to sit on. Max's grin got wider.

Visibly shaken and annoyed, Hal turned to the man but quickly regretted it when he discovered the proximity of their faces. Surprisingly though, Aidan looked thrilled and relaxed his body so Hal could sit even more comfortably. Unbeknownst to him, Hal felt the exact opposite since he was sitting right on top of his groin and he could feel the shape of it in spite of the fact that it wasn't even erect.

Lord, help me---Halwyn started uttering prayers inside of his head. "Don't do that again," he warned in his most severe voice.

Aidan was a bit taken aback as he had never seen a woman angry at him. Nevertheless, his ego wouldn't allow him to admit that her glares did shake him up a bit. "Why not?"

"Because I don't like it."

"Strange. It's supposed to be romantic..."

"To whom? Excuse me for saying this but I'm not a piece of meat and you can't just push and pull and toss me around as you see fit. That's not sexy and definitely not romantic," Upon saying that he pressed himself on top of him in an attempt to crush his balls, and he did, since Aidan shrieked in pain.

"What the fuck!?"

"Is there something wrong?" Sia noticed that the pose was taking too much time and they hadn't done a lot. Even Maxen stood there stupefied at the two and at the same time amused at the way Hal handled things.

"Yes---"

"Nothing's wrong," Aidan quickly countered, cutting him off.

Halwyn realized that he was just prolonging their encounter and started cooperating, occasionally glaring at Maxen who enjoyed the looks of the aesthetically pleasing couple. In between takes, Eurig retouched his makeup, and before the start of another series of photoshoots, the man attempted to once again, appeal to his better side.

"What's your name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Their eyes met and for a moment, Hal finally got a better view of Aidan Pryce.

Five years.

It has been five years since he last saw him. Nothing much changed except for the man sponsoring a longer hairstyle and that he had more piercings and tattoos on his body. Yet, the beautiful structure of the man's face and those sensual lips where Hal's sight lingers longer didn't change at all. He remembered him so well. He remembered him like it was just yesterday.